Facebook doubles office space in Dublin

Thursday, 7th November 2013 - Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton TD and IDA Ireland today welcomed the announcement that Facebook is to take a new office space in Grand Canal Square in Dublin’s Silicon Docks.

Facebook will be making the short move from their existing office space in Hanover Quay, where they established their International Headquarters in 2009.

Minister Bruton said: "This is a very welcome announcement and further confirmation of Ireland's status as the internet capital of Europe. Great credit is owed to the IDA who worked tirelessly on this project. I know from our frequent meetings with Facebook on investment missions how significant this project is for the company, and how important Ireland is as its international base. I wish them every success in their new home".

Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland said: “Facebook is one of the highest profile companies in Ireland today. Facebook’s presence here since 2009 has been a huge draw for other firms when IDA Ireland is bringing interested clients to Ireland. This new office space will solidify Ireland as the international headquarters of Facebook and allow the company to further expand its operations here from its current base of server support, policy, safety and database engineering. Facebook’s office in Dublin will be the company’s largest operation outside of the Group headquarters in Menlo Park, CA.”

IDA Ireland has already attracted a number of the world’s leading “born on the internet companies” to establish centres in Ireland - these include – Twitter, Google, Linkedin, Yahoo, Amazon amongst others.

“IDA worked closely with the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) to find a suitable property solution for Facebook in Dublin,” said O’Leary.

NAMA is the Irish state agency charged with obtaining the best financial return for the State on its land portfolio over an expected lifetime of up to 10 years.

Brendan McDonagh, CEO of NAMA said: "NAMA is pleased to have facilitated this transaction by advancing funding to complete the building and working closely with the IDA to meet Facebook's requirements.”

“NAMA's investment will generate substantial employment during the construction and fit-out phase. It will provide high-quality office accommodation that we hope will be a successful base for Facebook to expand its Irish workforce. We will continue to ensure that NAMA’s asset management and development funding activities are, in the context of our commercial remit, closely aligned with the IDA’s work in attracting investment and employment into Ireland."